Eyewitness News reporter Barry Bateman got South Africans on Twitter giggling after calling EFF leader Julius Malema a “p**s” at a press briefing on Tuesday.
Caught on camera, Bateman can be seen attempting to turn off his microphone after Malema is done speaking before he uses the derogatory word.
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Julius Malema “Me, I’m not scared boet, uniform or no uniform, Afrikaner or no Afrikaner, white or pink, I deal with you decisively.” pic.twitter.com/01LGQUVP1z
— Man’s Not Barry Roux (@AdvBarryRoux) September 10, 2019
Subsequently, the moment trended as South Africans shared the video, and by Wednesday morning #poes took the number one spot on Twitter.
You gotta love Southy . We waking up with #poes trending on number 1 . Kumele sibe serious manje pic.twitter.com/uSOw7npoY3 — Uncle Sizwe
(@LordSizwe) September 11, 2019
Some users gave the video a slight tweak for added humour too.
BATEMAN vs MALEMA Let’s see what happens to Barry Bateman.
Never a dull moment is South Africa
#POES pic.twitter.com/l3A9EuRQit —
Thabang Mantutle (@ThabangMantutle) September 11, 2019
Eyewitness News, meanwhile, apologised on behalf of Bateman for his “foul language”.
Eyewitness News unreservedly apologises to the @EFFSouthAfrica‘s leader, @Julius_S_Malema, for the foul language used by its reporter, Barry Bateman. https://t.co/UqO0Yq4AvM pic.twitter.com/x6yDj0qO4m
— Eyewitness News (@ewnupdates) September 10, 2019
Still, South Africans couldn’t help but find the entire scenario hilarious.
And a whole #poes is trending pic.twitter.com/pJYKedL45d
— Tracy (@TracyL__) September 10, 2019
The mini heart attack I got when a saw #Poes trending at number one. pic.twitter.com/Gp6FCeCjmK
— Nangamso Zibele (@fabulositiiii) September 10, 2019
Only in South Africa will #poes trend for all correct reasons. I love my beautiful country pic.twitter.com/AHWH71Qawh
— Bra Bonny (@LebonaMoleli) September 11, 2019
Barry Bateman has since changed his Twitter account to “protected” so that only approved followers can see his tweets.
Feature image: screenshot, @MalkopMedia via Twitter
